Sunday, April 20, 2008

My house is a bow explosion. One would think that a bowmaker would have a fancy solution to bow storage, but to be honest, we have bows coming out of every crevice in our house. The main "hub" for our bows is a wooden cabinet- the girls take their bows out and throw them into a basket on top of this cabinet. Once in a while, we'll go through the basket and sort everything into color-coordinated plastic drawers inside the cabinet. It's definitely not fancy, and it's terribly frustrating trying to find things when we're rushing out the door to meet the school bus.

If your house is bow explosion too, check out Bambina Ballerina. Trisha makes these gorgeous bow holders with flowing ribbon and tulle. You can have one custom made to match her bedroom decor.

They make beautiful gifts, too. Imagine giving one to a little girl on her first birthday, or for an expectant mom who's having her first little girl.

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Once in a while I close my website to catch up, and it spurs some extra creativity that I typically can't get to when I'm bogged down with orders. I get refreshed this way and I can jump back into my website sales with a clearer head. This week I made this fabric headband set for a Bijou & Company member to match a dress. I've seen the dress, but I can't wait to see the total ensemble in pictures next week.

I have three other sets made for my Bijou friends, too- so I'll post a link here next week when the items are all launched. Bijou is celebrating their one-year anniversary with a launch called "Sentiments." There are some fabulous designers involved, and it will be exciting to see everything next week.

Thank you for the emails asking about new Gymbo line bows. I'll have Cherry Baby items made up for my reopening next week!

Saturday, April 5, 2008

I've been invited to become a member of BijouCo...Bijou & Company. This is a new adventure for me! Bijou & Co. is a design group, with some fabulous designers. Top notch. I'm so excited about this. I've had a chance to work with one of the designers (Danielle and her sweet model-daughter Samantha) and I'm working on something for an upcoming launch with LaNae of 2tatteredtulips. I'm thrilled to be a member of Bijou...search BijouCo on eBay and Etsy for some stunning items!

Mark and I have been married for ten years. It will be eleven years this October. He's my best friend, and good thing- because he had no idea ten years ago that I'd have the absolute disaster of a mess in my bow space downstairs that I have today. I've never asked him if he would change his mind, knowing now what he didn't know then. I think I'll save that question for when I've cleaned up my ribbon scraps.

And then there are the kids. Julia is 7. Sara is 6. Adam is 4. I'll save a whole page of bragging, but I'll tell you that they're all very sweet, and they're great kids. They do have love/hate relationships with each other, which makes our household quite unbearable at times. We didn't plan to have 3 children in 3 years. But it happened that way, and we consider ourselves quite blessed, since Julia was a gift through IVF, and Sara and Adam surprised us naturally after that.

We live in a quiet area of northern Massachusetts. Quiet- meaning I have to travel 45 minutes to most everything. Yes, we have a Walmart, gas station and bowling alley, but not much more.

My daily routine includes getting the girls off to school, and Adam to preschool and back. I'm a Daisy Girl Scout leader and I help with the Brownie troop as well. I find a little time to clean up the kitchen sink each day while they're all in school, but most of my day is filled with ribbon.

Ladybug BowtiqueI started out selling on eBay about six years ago, when I was pregnant with Sara. At the time, I was a bank officer, and managed a local bank branch. When Sara was due, I decided to stay home with both girls. I started selling on eBay. When they were a bit older, I started making bows for them, and listed a few on eBay. I was surprised at how well they did, and after three years and over a thousand bow sales, I decided it was time to venture out and open my website. I had no idea at the time where this would bring me. My website has been so fun and exciting, and exhausting at the same time.

I make mostly made-to-match (M2M) Gymboree and Janie and Jack bows & accessories, but also fit in some GAP, Hanna, Naartjie, Boden and some others. I make bows, clips, headbands, necklaces, and so much more.